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United States Patent |
5,632,510
|
Morowitz
|
May 27, 1997
|
Food preparation facilitator apparatus
Abstract
An internationally useful kit for advising a waiter of dietary restrictions
comprises a plurality of cards and an organizer. Each of the cards is
associated with a respective dietary restriction and contains both an
internationally recognizable graphic representation of the respective
dietary restriction, and translations of the respective dietary
restriction into a plurality of languages. Thus, each card identifies a
respective dietary restriction both graphically and in a plurality of
languages. The organizer releasably receives and maintains the plurality
of cards, preferably in such a manner as to enable different sets of the
plurality of cards to be used at different times to advise a waiter of the
then applicable dietary restrictions.
Inventors:
|
Morowitz; Arthur (Short Hills, NJ)
|
Assignee:
|
Evart Enterprises, Inc. (New York, NY)
|
Appl. No.:
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428273 |
Filed:
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April 25, 1995 |
Current U.S. Class: |
283/61; 283/115; 283/117; 283/900 |
Intern'l Class: |
B42D 015/00 |
Field of Search: |
283/61,62,900,115,116,65,117
|
References Cited
U.S. Patent Documents
5096228 | Mar., 1992 | Rinderknecht | 283/900.
|
5178416 | Jan., 1993 | Wennik | 283/900.
|
5451079 | Sep., 1995 | Gong et al. | 283/900.
|
Other References
Trademark Registration No. 1,526,886 (1989).
Trademark Registration No. 937,108 (1972).
|
Primary Examiner: Fridie, Jr.; Willmon
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Amster, Rothstein & Ebenstein
Claims
I claim:
1. An internationally useful kit for advising a waiter of dietary
restrictions, comprising:
(A) a plurality of cards, each of said cards being associated with a
respective dietary restriction and containing:
(i) an internationally recognizable graphic representation of the
respective dietary restriction, and
(ii) translations of the respective dietary restriction into a plurality of
languages; and
(B) organizer means for releasably receiving and maintaining said plurality
of cards;
whereby each card identifies a respective dietary restriction both
graphically and in a plurality of languages.
2. The kit of claim 1 wherein each card contains associated with each
translation, a designation of the language thereof, thereby facilitating a
user determining the appropriate translation to be indicated to a waiter.
3. The kit of claim 1 wherein each of said cards associated with a
respective dietary restriction has front and back faces and contains:
(i) on said front face, said internationally recognizable graphic
representation of the respective dietary restriction, and
(ii) on said back face, said translations of the respective dietary
restriction into said plurality of languages.
4. The kit of claim 1 wherein said plurality of cards is at least 26, and
said plurality of languages is at least 20.
5. The kit of claim 1 wherein at least some of said internationally
recognizable graphic representations comprise a representation of a food
product or an image associated therewith, surrounded by a circle with a
slash therethrough;
whereby said graphic representation consists of an international
prohibition symbol with the food product or associated image
representation shown therebeneath.
6. The kit of claim 1 wherein said cards and said organizer means are
configured and dimensioned as conventional business cards and a business
card organizer.
7. An internationally useful kit for advising a waiter of dietary
restrictions, comprising:
(A) a plurality of cards having front and back faces, each of said cards
being associated with a respective dietary restriction and containing:
(i) on said front face, the respective dietary restriction in one language
and an internationally recognizable graphic representation thereof, at
least some of said internationally recognizable graphic representations
including a representation of a food product or an image associated
therewith, surrounded by a circle with a slash therethrough, whereby said
graphic representation consists of an international prohibition symbol
with the food product or image representation shown therebeneath; and
(ii) on said back face, translations of the respective dietary restriction
into a plurality of languages, and, associated with each translation, a
designation of the language thereof, thereby facilitating a user
determining the appropriate translation to be indicated to a waiter;
whereby each card identifies a respective dietary restriction both
graphically and in a plurality of languages; and
(B) organizer means for releasably receiving and maintaining said plurality
of cards in such a manner as to enable different sets of said plurality of
cards to be used at different times to advise a waiter of then applicable
dietary restrictions, said cards and said organizer means being configured
and dimensioned as a conventional business card and business card
organizer.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to a food preparation facilitator
apparatus and, more particularly, such apparatus which facilitates
advising a food preparer of applicable dietary restrictions.
When a diner in a restaurant speaks the local language, he is usually able
to appropriately advise the waiter of his dietary restrictions, the waiter
then reporting the dietary restrictions to the kitchen where the food will
be prepared accordingly. These dietary restrictions may be religious in
nature (e.g., "kosher only" or "vegetarian only"), medical (e.g., "no
cholesterol," "no eggs," "no hot peppers," "no cheese," or "no
shellfish"), or simply matters of taste preference (e.g., "meat well-done"
or "meat rare"). However, as one travels internationally (or simply goes
into local "foreign food" restaurants where the waiters are not conversant
with the local language), it becomes difficult to communicate the
applicable dietary restrictions to the waiter, thereby diminishing any
chance of compliance with such dietary restrictions by the kitchen. There
are many different languages, some of which do not even use the English
alphabet, and few people are able to express even one or two dietary
restrictions in all of the languages which may be required in their
travels.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an
internationally useful kit for advising a waiter (locally or
internationally) of dietary restrictions (whether arising out of religion,
health or preference).
Another object is to provide such a kit which enables the user to advise
the waiter of dietary restrictions by means of a card containing an
internationally recognizable graphic representation of the dietary
restriction, as well as a translation of the dietary restriction into a
plurality of languages.
A further object is to provide such a kit which includes an organizer for
releasably receiving and maintaining the plurality of cards representing
respective dietary restrictions in such a manner as to enable different
sets of the plurality of cards to be used at different times to advise a
waiter of the then applicable dietary restrictions.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It has now been found that the above and related objects of the present
invention are obtained in an internationally useful kit for advising a
waiter of dietary restrictions. The kit comprises a plurality of cards and
organizer means for releasably receiving and organizing the plurality of
cards. Each of the cards is associated with a respective dietary
restriction and contains both an internationally recognizable graphic
representation of the respective dietary restriction and translations of
the respective dietary restriction into a plurality of languages. Thus,
each card identifies a respective dietary restriction both graphically and
in a plurality of languages.
In a preferred embodiment, each of the cards associated with a respective
dietary restriction has front and back faces and contains, on the front
face, the internationally recognizable graphic representation of the
respective dietary restriction, and, on the back face, the translations of
the respective dietary restriction into the plurality of languages.
Typically, the plurality of cards is at least 26, and the plurality of
languages is at least 20. Each card preferably contains associated with
each translation, a designation of the language thereof, thereby
facilitating a user determining the appropriate translation to be
indicated to a waiter. At least some of the internationally recognizable
graphic representations comprise a representation of a food product or an
image associated therewith, surrounded by a circle with a slash
therethrough, whereby the graphic representation consists of an
international prohibition symbol with the food product or associated image
representation shown therebeneath. The cards and the organizer are
conveniently configured and dimensioned as conventional business cards and
a business card organizer or container.
The present invention also encompasses a kit wherein the cards identify the
respective dietary restriction graphically, in a plurality of languages or
both, and the organizer means enables different sets of the plurality of
cards to be used at different times to advise a waiter of then applicable
dietary restrictions.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
The above and related objects, features and advantages of the present
invention will be more fully understood by reference to the following
detailed description of the presently preferred, albeit illustrative,
embodiment of the present invention when taken in conjunction with the
accompanying drawing wherein:
FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of a kit according to the present
invention, with some of the cards being illustrated partially removed from
the organizer;
FIG. 2 is a front elevational view of a card; and
FIG. 3 is a back elevational view of the card of FIG. 2.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Referring now to FIG. 1, therein illustrated is a kit according to the
present invention, generally designated by the reference numeral 10. The
kit 10 is internationally useful for advising a waiter of dietary
restrictions and comprises a plurality of cards, generally designated 12,
and an organizer, generally designated 14, for releasably receiving and
maintaining the plurality of cards 12. While six cards 12 are visible in
FIG. 1, preferably a kit will have at least 26 cards so that each of the
cards 12 can be associated with a respective dietary restriction: no salt,
no caffeine, no cholesterol, no alcohol, no spices, no dairy, no onion, no
garlic, no wheat, no eggs, no MSG, no beef, vegetarian only, meat
well-done, no hot peppers, no cheese, no chocolate, meat medium, kosher
only, no shellfish, meat rare, no sugar, no butter, no pork, low fat, no
oil, or the like. It will be appreciated that while the food restrictions
are typically exclusionary and involve the prohibitory word "no", this is
not always the case (see "vegetarian only," "kosher only," and
"well-done," "medium" or "rare" meat). In order to reduce the size and
weight of the kit 10 being carried on a trip, those cards indicating
dietary restrictions which are of no interest at any time to a particular
individual (or his travelling companions) may be removed from the
organizer 14 for the duration of the trip or permanently.
In the preferred embodiment illustrated, each card 12 identifies a dietary
restriction both graphically (see FIG. 2) and in a plurality of languages
(see FIG. 3). More particularly, each card 12 contains an internationally
recognizable graphic representation 20 of the respective dietary
restriction and translations 22 of the respective dietary restriction into
a plurality (say, 20) of languages--for example, Spanish, French, German,
Italian, Portuguese, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Czech,
Hungarian, Russian, Polish, Bulgarian, Hebrew, Arabic, Japanese, Chinese,
Korean, and the like. It will be appreciated that while some of these
different languages may use the English language alphabet, others may not.
Preferably, associated with each translation is a designation 24 of the
language thereof, thereby to facilitate a user determining the appropriate
translation to be indicated to a waiter and even permitting the user to
attempt to pronounce the translation itself.
At least some of the preferred internationally recognizable graphic
representations 20 comprise a representation of a food product or an image
associated therewith, surrounded by a circle with a slash therethrough.
Thus, the graphic representation 20 consists of an international
prohibition symbol with the food product or associated image
representation shown therebeneath (that is, with the slash line in front
of or overlaying the food product or associated image representation).
While this type of representation is well suited for negative dietary
requirements involving the prohibitory word "no", it is not well suited
for other types of dietary requirements, such as how one wishes his meat
cooked. In this instance, a card may represent a piece of meat cooked to
the desired degree (juicy red, pink or blackened).
Some ingenuity and communication skills may be gainfully employed in
selecting appropriate graphics for use on a card. For example, a
"vegetarian only" representation might have a piece of meat and a leafy
vegetable depicted on the card, with the international prohibition symbol
disposed only over the meat. For dietary restrictions applicable to a
plurality of food products--for example, for "no shellfish"--the
international prohibition symbol may be placed over a plate having thereon
a variety of shellfish, such as crabs, shrimp, lobster, mussels, and the
like. Presumably, any indefiniteness in the graphic representation of the
dietary restriction can be clarified for the waiter by reference to the
translation thereof into the appropriate foreign language.
Each card 12 has a front face 12a and a back face 12b. Preferably, each
card 12 will contain, on the front face 12a thereof, the internationally
recognized or graphic representation of the respective dietary restriction
and, on the back face 12b thereof, the translations of the respective
dietary restriction into the plurality of languages. However, the present
invention also encompasses the internationally useful kit for advising a
waiter of dietary restrictions, wherein each of the cards identifies the
associated respective dietary restriction graphically or in a plurality of
languages rather than by both techniques.
Where the kit is to be sold to users having as their main language English
(or any other given language), the dietary restriction is preferably set
forth in English (or the other given language) on the same front face 12a
of the card as the graphic representation 20 (as shown at 30 in FIG. 2)
and at the top of the list of translations into foreign languages on the
back of the card (as illustrated at 32 in FIG. 3).
The cards 12 and the organizer 14 are preferably configured and dimensioned
as conventional business cards (including wallet-size business cards), and
a business card organizer or holder, although other sizes and
configurations may be employed for particular applications.
In the preferred embodiment of the present invention illustrated, the
organizer 14 enables different sets of the plurality of cards 12 to be
used at different times to advise a waiter of the then applicable dietary
restrictions. Thus, a particular user may always wish to respect the "no
salt" and "no egg" restrictions for health reasons, but only on occasion
respect a "no garlic" restriction (e.g., when dining with companions who
might object). Accordingly, after initially removing from the organizer 14
those cards 12 bearing dietary restrictions of no possible interest, he
might carry in the organizer 14 simply the three cards 12 referenced, at
times removing two of the cards to appropriately advise the waiter and, at
other times, removing all three cards to appropriately advise the waiter.
The organizer 14 may be any of a variety of pouches open at one end,
openable boxes, or like apparatus for acting as a business card organizer
or holder. Preferably, the cards will identify the respective dietary
restrictions graphically, in a plurality of languages, or both.
The cards 12 and organizer 14 may be formed of paperboard or the like,
preferably with a clear plastic coating thereover to prevent the cards
from becoming soiled at the dinner table.
To summarize, the present invention provides an internationally useful kit
for advising a waiter of dietary restrictions, the kit employing cards
identifying respective dietary restrictions preferably both graphically
and in a plurality of languages. The organizer means enables different
sets of the plurality of cards to be used at different times to advise a
waiter of then applicable dietary restrictions.
Now that the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been shown
and described in detail, various modifications and improvements thereon
will become readily apparent to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, the
spirit and scope of the present invention is to be construed broadly and
limited only by the appended claims, and not by the foregoing
specification.
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